Living in Shadows, Disguised in Death
by otakucraze
Summary: Gaara and Rei have been dating for years before Rei's clan is attacked. Rei now needs to find out who performed the massacre of her clan while being in the shadows before she can go back to her beloved Gaara, who believes she is dead. GaaraxOC


I do not take claim for Naruto, Naruto's world, and any characters that take place in Naruto. I do, however, claim the Kouyouakki clan memebers and Rei's teammates and sensei.

Please enjoy and review with feedback and/or comments or suggestions on what should happen int he story.

Thanks for reading

-Otakucraze

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WARNING: This fanfic may go slightly off canon

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Prologue

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My clan is not known to be shinobi, though some still will go that route, my clan is known to be contract hunters and trackers, and we are masters at disguise. My clan will go through extensive measures to raise the children to be the best that can be, and toward the family business. The extensive measures include not having the children leave the clan's territory without learning how to put up a second persona, for we learn to trust no one except family and few friends with the vision of our true self.

By the age of two most of the kits will have enough chakra control to hold the second persona for a period of time for a short outing with their parents.

By the age of five nearly all the kits will know how to shift to their fox form, and then transform into that element's persona.

By the age of ten all the kits will have known how to fight with the fire element and will have several personas based on that element, as well as several "base" personas. At this time they will have started to learn the next element, which is usually water.

I was an average child, nowhere near the top of the class for learning the fire element, in fact, I was the last one to complete it when compared to my peers. Probably because I wanted to be a kunoichi, and after begging my parents I was allowed to. Learning something different from the rest of my peers in the clan only furthered my progress from my peers. By the time I was taking the test to become a genin I had barely been able to shift to the water fox form, and could not shift to the human water elemental form, unlike all my peers in my clan.

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Chapter One: Introductions

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I sniffed the air, and crouched lower and waited, my ears twitched at a sound on my left and from behind and in an instant I rushed forward as an attack came from behind and from my left. My paws hit the ground and I jumped shifting to human form and using the extra height to land perfectly on the tree branch I was aiming for. I turned and flicked my wrist and a burst of fire exploded from my fingertips to my two attackers. They both fell to the ground, smoldering.

"Okay, I think they have had enough Rei" My sensei said, and I gracefully went into a sitting position on the branch and grinned at my now burnt and smoking teammates.

"Dang it Rei, that freaking hurt" My silver headed teammate said, his name is Meimuteishu Akaime, and the team's resident genjutsu user. My other teammate, who had hair the shade of the sky at midnight, patted Akaime's shoulder that was still in flame. His name is Bukitsukaite Shikyo, and is the team's resident weapon and taijutsu user. I am the team's ninjutsu user.

"I think you guys will do well on mission tomorrow" My sensei said, his white hair with the red and blue streaks whipping around in the wind. I loved his hair, it reminded me of my own, when my current apparition was not shown and I was with my family, and safe behind clan territory. His name is Akashiro Aoshi. Our team is not well known, but I like it that way, my reclusive secretive nature comes out, but I am not the only one that thinks like that, my entire team does as well. I jumped down from the branch and did a jutsus handseals with the speed of mastery. My image flickered and flashed and soon my long red hair shortened, my filthy clothes changed to normal civilian wear.

"I hope so" I said, brushing my hair with my fingers.

"I'm hungry" Shikyo said as he fixed his ponytail at the nape of his neck. "My treat" He finished when no one answered

"Okay" I said cheerfully "Barbeque?" I asked and smirked as he nodded once. We walked out of the forest and into town. I jumped out of the way of the loudest group in all shinobi history

"NARUTO!"

"AHHHHHHHHH" Naruto cried as he ran passed, nearly running me over, Sakura running after him. The four of us stared for a second before heading once more to the restaurant.

"I am so glad we are not so obvious" Shikyo whispered

"Nor as loud" Akaime added

"Nor as destructive" I added lastly

"I would have to beat it out of you" Aoshi-sensei finished as we were seated beside Chouji and his team

"You really shouldn't eat so fast" Ino said to Chouji "It is rude, bad for you, and embarrassing" I rolled my eyes and sat so I wouldn't face their group, Shikyo sat next to me. Akaime sat down toward the window and immediately looked out of it, hand on his chin. Aoshi-sensei sighed and sat on the edge before he grabbed a waitress and whispered for another booth, she shook her head and apologized. Aoshi-sensei sighed once more and ordered our regular order for this restaurant.

"I am proud of you three" He said, the three of us bowed our head once in thanks. He smirked "You three are too much alike"

"We can be" I said quietly "To the naked eye"

"But to one who knows us they can tell the difference" Akaime noted, still looking outside

"Where is the Chuunin test going to be taken place next time?" I asked

"Here"

"Yay, home team advantage" Shikyo said sarcastically as the waitress came by with waters, which the four of us picked up simultaneously and drank.

"You three are Shinobi?" Ino asked. I rolled my eyes, in frustration.

"Yes" Akaime said, still not directing his gaze "Rei, isn't that your mother?" I looked out the window

"Crap, I need to go, see you tomorrow for the test"

"You are a kunoichi?" Ino asked

"Yeah, why?"

"You don't look like it"

"Looks can be deceiving"

"You don't talk like a shinobi either" Chouji added

"Just because I am not loud, destructive, or rude does not mean I am not a shinobi, now if you'll excuse me I need to go, as I already mentioned, unless you would like me to stay and answer more of your idiotic questions?" I said in an icy tone, causing my team to smirk and Akaime to actually pay attention to the conversation and not what was going on outside. I turned and headed out of the restaurant and caught up with my mother.

"Rei, I need you to do something for me" When my mother said this it usually meant that a two day long tracking mission needed an extra pair of eyes and ears.

"I have a mission tomorrow, remember?"

"I know, Sei decided to be rebellious and leave her mother's side and is missing."

My clan is extremely overprotective of the children, the kits as we call them, to the point where they are not allowed off of the clan complex until they can produce an image and hold it for hours on end that is not their own.

"Okay" I said as I quickly did my familiar jutsu handseals and jumped onto the nearest roof and looked for a redhead. I saw two and jumped down, and a man with eyes not familiar to my clan looked back at me.

"Rei" A little girl that was holding the hand of the unfamiliar man said, I looked down and recognized the face as one of the personas that Sei usually held. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sei," I said as I ducked down to her level, my hair touching the ground as I did so, and I was reminded that I was wearing the equivalent of a bra and short shorts with this persona "How many times do you need to run away from your mother before you realize it is dangerous?" Sei pouted

"Mommy is annoying, she has to keep me in her sight and I want to explore!" She said happily. I shook my head at her antics

"Even though we live in this village it is not safe, you need to go back to your mother" Sei sighed

"Fine" Sei said as she walked over to me and I slowly stood up

"Thank You" I said as I looked up into his aqua eyes "My name is Kouyouakki Rei" I extended my hand and he shook it

"Subaku no Gaara" My eyes grew wide

"The Kazekage? The vessel of the one tailed demon?" I asked, he nodded and I glared down at Sei as she smirked "Don't you smirk at me" I whispered and looked back at him "Can you wait here for a second?"

"Sure" he said, I bowed my head slightly in thanks before letting Sei climb up my back and jumping and running toward where I smelled her mother I jumped down off the roof as Sei finished her extremely long "WHEEEEEEEEEE" Sei's mother, my aunt, looked over at my entrance and sighed in relief.

"Sei" Sei ran to her mother and nuzzled her head to her breast "Thank you Rei"

"No problem" I said "I just found her with the _Kazekage_" I said, placing extra emphasis to cause a reaction worthy of the person, sure enough people drew back in shock before staring at Sei in disbelief and gave the time old "look-of-punishment-to-come." Sei glared at me and I smirked before turning to leave.

"Rei" I turned my head slightly "Give the Kazekage our thanks by a meal, and use the family's tab" I nodded and ran back to where the Kazekage was standing.

"My clan gives you their thanks, and wishes me to treat you for dinner if that is acceptable to you" I asked with the utmost respect in my voice as I bowed slightly. He nodded in reply before heading back to the barbeque restaurant and was shocked to see Shikyo AND Akaime in a heated argument with Ino and Chouji. From the looks of it Shikyo and Akaime were really forcing themselves to not make the verbal argument physical. I looked around and saw that the four had made a lot of the customers leave and the waiters and waitress were looking on in a mixture of shock and fear. I sighed before I walked up to the four before slapping my teammates on the back of the head. The argument stopped immediately as Ino and Chouji stared at me in shock.

"You are making a scene" I whispered harshly to my teammates

"Sorry Rei" Shikyo said

"Rei? You look don't like the girl left then just" Chouji said. I sighed, glaring at Shikyo, before closing my eyes and sighing before doing the handseals for my oh so familiar jutsu and my image flickered before my shorter haired, casual looking apparition appeared.

"Do I look fucking familiar now?" I seethed

"Rei calm down" Akaime said softly

"SIT" I barked and Akaime and Shikyo sat down. I looked over to the Kazekage who looked interested in the whole situation, and I motioned for him to sit next to the window facing the opposite direction of the other two shinobi. "Where is Aoshi-sensei?" I asked, annoyance still prominent in my voice.

"Left when Shikyo started yelling" Akaime said.

"Ah" I said as the waitress brought the food.

"Thank you, we were unsure of what to do" The waitress said in response to fixing the problem. I waved my hand showing it was nothing as the group roasted the meat on the spit

"Thank you for dinner" the Kazekage said.

"It was nothing, thank you for finding my cousin" I said, wiping my mouth with the napkin in front of me

"Well" Akaime said, nudging Shikyo with his elbow "We need to go spar"

"Kay, see you tomorrow" I said as I got up, and allowed the Kazekage to stand. "Sorry about my teammates" I said, embarrassed at the scene they had made in front of a kage.

"Don't worry about it"

"I still feel like I need to make up for it" I said

"You don't have to"

"I want to, what would you like to do?"

"How about a walk" He said after a long period of silence.

"Okay" I said leading him to a forest. After walking for a while I took him off the trail

"It seems you know this forest pretty well" the Kazekage said

"My family used to own this entire forest before Konohagakure even existed, back then it was known as the Forest of Instant Death. That is why the forest in the center that is fenced is named the Forest of Death" I said proudly "My clan knows these forests like the back of our hand by the age of five"

"Impressive, I must ask, where are you taking me?"

"Here" I said as I pulled a branch away showing a cliff next to a stream next to a meadow of wildflowers and a small waterfall as the stream comes from the thick edge of the forest. "This is my favorite place in Konoha" I said taking a deep breath and instantly relaxing "I come here to be alone and relax" I said as I jumped into the bed of wildflowers and rolled over, so I could look at the sky. I looked at him and patted the ground next to me. He walked over and sat down and slowly leaned back so he was lying down next to me. "Isn't this relaxing?" I said happily, breathing in the sweet aroma of wildflowers .

He rolled on his side and looked at me until I opened my eyes and looked towards him

"Why did you take me here?"

"You seem like the type to like being alone and in nature to just look at the scenery and relax" I said, staring at the clouds passing above

"You could tell that just by being with me for one meal?" He asked, slight shock lacing his voice. I turned my head towards him and sat up a bit to face him better.

"My family is made up of trackers, and my clan's specialty is to blend in, to observe, and to meld into the background, usually using a simple apparition of a compilation of faces around me, and by the way that people act. I am good at reading people, I have to be to catch up to my peers" I said

"Catch up to your peers?"

"I am the last one usually to finish a sector in my clans rigorous learning plan" I admitted, now fully sitting up and picking at the grass that was sticking up through the wildflowers.

"Ah, the rest of your clan must be excellent shinobi"

"I am currently the only member of my clan who is a shinobi"

"Well then you shouldn't beat yourself up" He said, looking directly into my eyes "For you are an excellent shinobi from what I have gathered in the past couple of hours" I smiled and placed a hand on top of his, and leaned to kiss him on the cheek. When I pulled back he was blushing, noticing this caused me to blush.

We both agree that this was the beginning of our relationship…

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Three Years Later

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Gaara and I were on a rare occasion where we could actually go on a physical date. I took the rare occasion to show him my true form, explaining after I put my apparition back up that now he could always find me. We decided to go out to eat at the udon place close to the ramen shop. We were heading over there from the Akki forest, which was named after my family, and where I had shown Gaara my true form, when a blast sent an aftershock towards us and we fell, Gaara making it so I landed on him, until it stopped. We both looked at the direction the aftershock came from and my eyes grew wide.

"The Kouyouakki clan complex" I whispered in terror. Gaara and I sped towards the direction of the complex, flying over buildings when the forest turned into town, as we followed it toward the far northwest edge, it became easier to run when the buildings and houses lessened, and Gaara quickly pulled me into him to stop me from jumping the fence, for it was the Kouyouakki's land that had exploded, a fire grew strong and fast, spreading to the corners of the complex. Gaara held on tight as I attempted to wriggle myself from his grasp to save my family, for I could see a cousin of mine, dead, half of him 30 feet away where my sister lay dead as well, most likely from blunt force trauma to the head. Tears began to blur my vision as my legs gave out and I toppled to the floor, Gaara at my side, holding me and giving me comfort. I began to sob and I twisted myself around so I could hold on to the only person outside my family that I trusted to show my true form.

I sensed someone running up to the complex that was familiar and I looked up.

"Sei!" I yelled, and Gaara let go of me so I could hug my cousin, thankful that I was not the only one from my clan left.

"Have you seen Chuusei and Ryoku yet?" Sei sobbed

"No I thought they were on a mission"

"They came back early, and excited, said something about a secret passageway and the clan secret before disappearing t=on the property" Sei said, looking up to me.

"Secret passageway?" I whispered and stood, my head faced the glowing destruction that was my home, and taking a deep breath I pushed Sei towards Gaara "Watch her" I said, hearing the distant sound of footsteps coming toward the complex. I ran and jumped over the fence and dived into the fire, dodging exploding pieces of stone as I went.

"REI!" Sei and Gaara yelled in unison, I looked back for a moment to see Sei sobbing and Gaara standing in shock. In the corner of my eye I saw a shadow move and I went towards it before a hole appeared at my feet something grabbed my ankle and pulled me in, as another explosion occurred. The tunnel I was pulled in rattled, and stones and dirt fell upon the other three.

"Chuusei! Ryoku! Tantou! You're alive!"I said as I glomped my older brother. I looked up at him and asked "Other than you all how many more survived?"

"Two" Ryoku said sadly.

"We weren't able to save very many" Chuusei admitted "Because we were underground"

"Which is when we found this tunnel that leads outside Konoha" Tantou finished.

"How did this happen?" I asked

"Someone stabbed the guards, and stormed through, and set up the explosives before running off the property and setting them off once at a safe distance" Chuusei sadly said

"We can discuss this later, we need to leave before the tunnel collapses" Ryoku said as yet another explosion was set off above us. The tunnel began to drop dirt clumps the size of our heads and we quickly dashed through the tunnel where the only other two survivors were Sei's mother and older brother.

"Rei!" Sei's mother shouted in shock "Have you seen Sei?"

"Yes she is with the Kazekage" I said softly. Sei's mother visibly relaxed and sank next to the tree she was standing next to.

"We suspect that this was a plot to kill the entire clan" Chuusei said, breaking the silence "I am sorry to say that Sei is still in danger from whoever is responsible for murdering most of the clan" Sei's mother looked up, once more in terror.

"So what's the plan?" I asked

Using a shadow jutsu I snuck into Konoha covering my brother as we stayed as close to the walls as possible. Chuusei and Tantou had done minor recon work to find the apartment the Hokage had given Sei to live in. I looked at him as we made motions with our eyes to climb the wall. He looked around, surveying the area before nodding. I turned swiftly and expertly scaled the wall and opened the window all the while being completely silent. I looked around the living room that I had entered, listening to the slow even breathing coming from the next room. I turned and surveyed the area before motioning for Ryoku to come up. He entered as silently as I had. I motioned with my hands that Sei was in the next room sleeping. Both in unison we entered the bedroom and stood over her. In a swift moment we covered her eyes and mouth with blindfolds, and restrained her arms and legs as I once again surveyed the land underneath the apartment before helping Ryoku carry the squirming girl. We both jumped out the window, landing gracefully and silently before dashing off, at the same speed and jumped over the wall in a single bound and quickly dashed more into the forest before letting out muffled cargo sit on the floor. I removed the mask and hood I was wearing, as did Ryoku before removing the blindfold. Sei's eyes widened before curving in happiness and began to tear up.

"You need to keep yourself quiet" I whispered and she nodded as I removed the bindings, and let her remove the fabric muffling her. "We suspect that someone is attempting to take the life of our entire clan, and since you remained alive that you were next" I whispered calmly

"What?" Sei whispered in disbelief. She sat in shock for a minute staring at the grass in front of her feet before looking up at me

"Is my mother alive? My family?"

"Your mother and older brother are fine. They went ahead of us to the Tenkiakki clan with the remaining survivors"

"Who else?"

"Chuusei and Tantou"

"That's it?"

"Yes"

"How far is the Tenkiakki clan?"

"It's in Kumogakure, and we need to get going" I said as I helped her up and started heading towards the remaining of the Kouyouakki clan. After Sei had gotten over her shock, we began to run, jumping from tree branch to tree branch. It was nearly dawn when we had caught up with the remaining four who were just waking up. Sei ran to her mother and brother and Ryoku and I took the time to catch our breath. Chuusei and Tantou came up to us and offered us water. I gladly took it and gulped it down, as did my brother.

"Hey, Chuusei," he looked up as I continued "How do we know that the Tenkiakki clan will allow us to enter?" This question had caught the attention of the family behind Chuusei and Tantou. Chuusei motioned for me to sit.

"The Kouyouakki clan is a fifth of a much larger clan. But in the past we were hunted down for people had thought we were demons because we can shift into a fox, and do not need handseals to do elemental damage. Because the attacks were getting worse the clan decided to split off, the Tenkiakki towards the forests in the mountains near the Kumogakure village, the Reitenki headed towards the forests near Iwagakure. The Kouyouakki towards the forests towards the southwest, where later a new village would emerge and make a deal with our clan for protection, and freedom on our part to follow our clans job as we pleased. The other two clans were found, followed and slaughtered before making it to where they wanted. Their deaths pleased the people and they forgot about our clan as the remaining did our best to fall off the grid, taking up small offers for jobs and building a clientele, always remaining in the shadows. Our clan has stayed this way, keeping to ourselves for the benefit for the entire clan as a whole. The Tenkiakki will allow us to enter because we are their brethren, and when they learn of the massacre that took place in Konoha they will give us shelter and a place in their job database."

"Okay" I said. Tantou handed me some food that he took off of the spit and passed out the remaining fish to the others

"You must be hungry, so build up your energy and rest before we set off again, that goes for you two as well" Tantou said. I nodded before thanking him for the food and ripping it to shreds in my mouth. I took a nap for about an hour and a half before I was awoken by Ryoku. We continued towards the Tenkiakki clan.


End file.
